Data centers include different types of electronic equipment such as servers and disk arrays that store all types of data. Data centers basically makeup the backside of the Internet, but they can also be implemented as part of a campus of one or companies for enabling them to perform their functionalities. Typically, equipment racks are utilized within data centers as a way of organizing and housing different types of electronic equipment therein. The equipment racks usually include 4 vertical columns (but some times may include 2 columns) thereby enabling the electronic equipment of the data center such as servers and disk arrays to be mounted thereto.
There are typically two ways of mounting equipment and/or devices on an equipment rack. For example, a piece of electronic equipment such as a disk array can be bolted to the rack. Furthermore, a piece of equipment such as a server can be attached to sliding rails which are then mounted to the equipment rack. In this manner, the piece of equipment is able to be slid out from the rack by someone thereby enabling him or her to more easily inspect and/or performance maintenance to that particular piece of equipment.
However, there are disadvantages associated with equipment racks that have one or more electronic devices mounted to it with sliding rails. For example, if one or more electronic devices are slid out from the equipment rack into a cantilevered position, the rack can tip over possibly causing human injury and/or damage to the equipment mounted to the rack. It is noted that some of the electronic equipment that is mounted to a rack can individually weigh much more than 100 kilograms (kg). As such, a collective weight of over 400 kg or even more could possibly fall on someone located near the rack.
One conventional way of attempting to solve this rack tipping problem is to add anti-tip “feet” to the front and rear of an equipment rack to reduce its instability. Specifically, the front and rear feet typically are implemented in some type of steel “L” bracket shape that are mounted to the front and rear of the equipment rack. The rear foot can also be bolted to a floor of the data center or ballast can be used to weight down the rear foot. However, there are disadvantages associated with this front and rear feet technique.
For example, the utilization of front and rear feet still fail to prevent a large amount of electronic equipment from being cantilevered out from the equipment rack in such a manner that the rack tips over.
Another conventional way of attempting to solve this rack tipping problem is to attach multiple equipment racks together to try to reduce the instability of each rack. However, one of the disadvantages associated with this technique is that it can also fail since it does not prevent a large amount of electronic equipment from being cantilevered out from the multiple equipment racks causing them to tip over.
A third conventional way of attempting to solve this rack tipping problem is to utilize a complicated mechanical system. A few of the disadvantages associated with this technique is that it is expensive, complicated and also can be prone to something of its mechanical system jamming, breaking, or becoming inoperable.
The present invention may address one or more of the above issues.